Exhibit 10.4


 


FINANCIAL SECURITY
ASSURANCE HOLDINGS LTD.


 


1989 Supplemental
Executive Retirement Plan


 


As Amended and
Restated


 


 


as of December 17,
2004


 





















 


CONTENTS


 


	
  ARTICLE
  1

  	
  Purposes
  of Plan

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  ARTICLE
  2

  	
  Definitions

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  ARTICLE
  3

  	
  Participation

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  ARTICLE
  4

  	
  Restoration
  of Benefits

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  ARTICLE
  5

  	
  Administration
  and General Provisions

  	
   

  



 





















 


FINANCIAL SECURITY
ASSURANCE HOLDINGS LTD.


1989 Supplemental
Executive Retirement Plan


 





ARTICLE
1.                                Purposes
of Plan.


 


1.1                                 Financial
Security Assurance Inc. adopted the Financial Security Assurance Inc.
Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (the “Plan”), effective January 1, 1989,
in order to restore the pension benefits of selected current and future key
employees whose benefits under the Financial Security Assurance Inc. Money
Purchase Plan are limited by reason of certain limitations imposed by Section
401(a)(17), Section 415 and other provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986, as amended (the “Code”).  The Plan
was previously amended and restated in its entirety, and adopted by Financial
Security Assurance Holdings Ltd. effective as of January 1, 1995, and
subsequently amended on February 12, 1997, and amended and restated as of
February 25, 1999, as of July 10, 2000 and as of November 14, 2002.  The Plan is hereby amended and restated in
its entirety, and adopted by Financial Security Assurance Holdings Ltd.
effective as of December 17, 2004, and renamed the Financial Security Assurance
Holdings Ltd. 1989 Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan.  The benefits, if any, with respect to any
employee who terminated employment prior to the effective date of any amendment
shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of the Plan as in effect
as of such termination date.  On December
17, 2004, the Company established a new supplemental executive retirement plan,
serving the same purposes as the Plan, for amounts vesting on or after January
1, 2005.  This new plan, as amended from
time to time, is known as the Financial Security Assurance Holdings Ltd. 2004
Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (the “New Plan”).


 


ARTICLE
2.                                Definitions.


 


For purposes of the Plan, the following terms shall
have the meanings set forth below:


 


2.1                                 “Account”
shall mean the account established for a Participant under the Plan to which
contributions and earnings are credited.


 


2.2                                 “Basic
Plan” shall mean the Financial Security Assurance Inc. Money Purchase Plan
as adopted and amended.


 


2.3                                 “Beneficiary”
shall mean the person or persons designated by the Participant to receive
benefits under the Plan in the event of the Participant’s death.  If there is no Beneficiary surviving the
Participant, any death benefit payable hereunder shall be paid to the
Participant’s estate.


 


2.4                                 “Board”
shall mean the Board of Directors of the Company.


 


2.5                                 “Code”
shall mean the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended from time to time.


 


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2.6                                 “COLI”
shall mean the corporate owned life insurance purchased by a Participating
Company on a Participant’s life pursuant to the Plan.


 


2.7                                 “Committee”
shall mean the Human Resources Committee of the Board acting on the majority
vote of such Committee.


 


2.8                                 “Company”
shall mean Financial Security Assurance Holdings Ltd., a New York corporation.


 


2.9                                 “Compensation”
shall mean, with respect to each Plan Year, the Participant’s annual base
salary, cash bonus, any bonus in lieu of which an “Equity Bonus” has been
granted pursuant to the Company’s 1993 Equity Participation Plan or any
successor plan and any amount deferred pursuant to the Company’s Deferred
Compensation Plan (other than deferrals related to “Performance Share” awards);
provided, however, that in no case shall such Compensation exceed $1 million in
any Plan Year.


 


2.10                           “Disability”
shall mean the Participant’s eligibility for disability benefits under his or
her Participating Company’s long term disability plan.


 


2.11                           “Discharge
for Cause” shall mean an Employee’s termination of employment by a
Participating Company due to such Employee’s willful misconduct or gross
negligence in respect of his or her duties of employment with the Participating
Company including, but not limited to, conviction for a felony or perpetration
of a common law fraud, which has resulted in or is likely to result in material
economic damage to a Participating Company.


 


2.12                           “Employee”
shall mean any individual employed by a Participating Company on or after
January 1, 1989 to whom benefits are payable under the Basic Plan.


 


2.13                           “New
Plan” shall mean the Financial Security Assurance Holdings Ltd. 2004
Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan, as amended from time to time.


 


2.14                           “Participant”
shall mean an Employee who is a member of a select group of management or
highly compensated employees and who has been designated by the Committee for
participation in the Plan pursuant to Section 3.1.


 


2.15                           “Participating
Company” shall mean the Company or any subsidiary or affiliate of the
Company employing a Participant.


 


2.16                           “Plan”
shall mean the Financial Security Assurance Holdings Ltd. 1989 Supplemental
Executive Retirement Plan as set forth herein, previously known as, and unless
specifically provided to the contrary shall include, the Financial Security Assurance
Inc. Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan.


 


2.17                           “Plan
Year” shall mean each calendar year beginning after December 31, 1988.


 


2.18                                 “SERP
Election Change Form” shall mean the form prescribed or accepted by the
Committee by which a Participant may change a previous distribution election.


 


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2.19                           “Years
of Service” shall mean “Years of Service for Vesting” as defined under the
Basic Plan.


 


Where used herein, the
masculine gender shall be deemed, where applicable, to include the feminine
gender, and references to the singular shall be deemed, where applicable, to
include the plural.


 


ARTICLE 3.                                Participation.


 


3.1                                 At
any time during the Plan Year, the Chief Executive Officer may recommend an
Employee to the Committee for participation in the Plan.  Upon receiving such recommendation, the
Committee shall timely act upon it and shall notify the Employee in the event
he or she is designated a Participant and the date as of which such
participation commences.  Unless
otherwise determined by the Chief Executive Officer or the Committee, each
Employee attaining the rank of Director, Managing Director, Associate General
Counsel, General Counsel, Executive Vice President, President or Chairman shall
be deemed to have been designated as a Participant by the Committee for all
purposes of the Plan.  Unless otherwise
determined by the Committee, once an Employee has been approved by the
Committee as a Participant in the Plan, such Employee shall remain a
Participant until all of his or her benefits with respect to the Plan have been
paid or forfeited.


 


ARTICLE
4.                                Restoration
of Benefits.


 


4.1                                 Amount
of Restoration of Benefits.  Subject
to Sections 4.3(b), 4.5 and 5.2 of the Plan, the Account of a Participant who
is in service with a Participating Company on the last day of the Plan Year for
any Plan Year ending on or prior to December 31, 2004, and whose pension
benefits under the Basic Plan for such Plan Year are limited by the application
of Section 401(a)(17) of the Code, Section 415 of the Code and other limits
under the Code on the inclusion of deferred amounts for contribution purposes,
shall be credited with an amount equal to the difference between:


 


(a)                                  the
amount of contribution related to Compensation which would have been payable to
or in respect of the Participant under the Basic Plan without regard to the
maximum annual pension limitation in Section 415 of the Code or the pensionable
compensation limitation in Section 401(a)(17) of the Code or the exclusion of
certain deferred amounts, and


 


(b)                                 the
amount of contribution related to Compensation actually payable to or in
respect of the Participant under the Basic Plan.


 


4.2                                 Vesting.  A Participant shall be 100% vested in his or
her Account upon attaining age 55, upon his or her death or Disability while in
the employ of a Participating Company or upon the termination of the Plan
pursuant to Section 5.2.  Except as
provided in Section 5.4, if a Participant terminates employment prior to an
event specified in the preceding sentence, 


 


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such Participant shall be vested in his or her Account
in accordance with the following schedule:


 


	
  Completed Years of Service

  	
   

  	
  Percentage

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Less than 2

  	
   

  	
  0

  	
   

  
	
  2

  	
   

  	
  20

  	
   

  
	
  3

  	
   

  	
  40

  	
   

  
	
  4

  	
   

  	
  60

  	
   

  
	
  5

  	
   

  	
  80

  	
   

  
	
  6 or more

  	
   

  	
  100

  	
   

  



 


All amounts in a Participant’s Account that are not
vested on or prior to December 31, 2004, shall be deemed transferred to the
account of such Participant under the New Plan.


 


4.3                                 Crediting
of Investment Gain/Loss.


 


(a)                                  The
balance of each Participant’s Account shall be credited with earnings and
investment gains and losses as provided below. 
The Committee may establish procedures permitting Participants to
designate one or more investment benchmarks specified by the Chief Executive
Officer or the Committee for the purpose of determining the earnings or
investment gains and losses to be credited or debited to a Participant’s
Account.  Investment benchmarks so
specified may be made available to all Participants or selected Participants as
the Chief Executive Officer or the Committee may designate. The Committee shall
have the sole discretion to make such rules as it deems desirable with respect
to the administration of any such investment benchmark procedures, including
rules permitting the Participant to change the designation of investment
benchmarks to be used to measure the value of the Account.  The Committee, however, retains the
discretion at any time to change the investment benchmarks available to
Participants, including any investment benchmarks previously specified by the
Chief Executive Officer, or to discontinue the benchmark procedure.  If the Committee fails to implement an
investment benchmark procedure or discontinues such procedure, or if the
Participant fails to designate properly an investment benchmark, the
Participant’s Account shall be credited with earnings at a rate determined by
the Committee in its sole discretion, utilizing whatever factors or indicia it
deems appropriate; provided, however, that the rate of return on a Participant’s
Account in such circumstances shall not be less than the Chase Bank prime rate
plus one percent.


 


(b)                                 Notwithstanding
paragraph (a) above, if the COLI on a Participant’s life remains in effect
(applicable to certain Participants in the Plan prior to December 31, 1994),
the amount credited to the Participant’s Account pursuant to Section 4.1 shall
first be used to pay the premiums on the COLI. Any amount credited pursuant to
Section 4.1 in excess of the amount needed to pay the premiums on the COLI
shall be credited with earnings and investment gains and losses in the manner
provided in paragraph (a) above.


 


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(c)                                  Nothing
in this Section 4.3 or in the Committee’s rules shall give a Participant the
right to require the Company or a Participating Company to acquire any asset
for the Account of the Participant, and if the Company or a Participating
Company acquires any asset, or causes a trustee on its behalf to acquire any asset,
to permit it to satisfy its obligations to pay the balance of the Participant’s
Account, the Participant shall have no right or interest in any such asset,
which shall be held by the Company or the Participating Company subject to the
rights of all unsecured creditors of the Company or the Participating
Company.  The rights of the Participant
with respect to any designation of one or more investment benchmarks for
measuring the value of any Account hereunder shall be expressly subject to the
provisions of Section 5.6 of the Plan.


 


4.4                                 Form
and Timing of Election.


 


(a)                                  Except as
otherwise provided herein, payment of the Participant’s vested Account balance shall
be made as soon as administratively practicable following the Participant’s
death, Disability or other termination of employment (a “Distribution Event”).
Effective February 12, 1997, a Participant may elect a date subsequent to the
Participant’s death, Disability or other termination of employment on which all
or any portion of the amounts previously credited to his or her Account shall
be distributed.  Effective July 10, 2000,
a Participant may elect to extend, but not accelerate, a previously elected
distribution date at any time at least 12 months before such previously elected
distribution date by the execution of a SERP Election Change Form, timely filed
with the Company, provided that a SERP Election Change Form shall only be
effective in respect of amounts that would not otherwise have been distributed
at least 12 months after the filing of such Form.


 


(b)                                 The
Participant may elect that his or her vested Account balance be distributed in
a lump sum or in installments payable over a specified number of years, not
longer than 15 years; provided, however, that in no event may installment
payments be elected over a number of years that is more than the Participant’s
life expectancy or the life expectancy of the designated primary Beneficiary,
whichever is greater, at the time the Participant elects a form of
distribution.  If a Participant elects
the installment option, the Participant must also elect whether installments
should be made annually, quarterly or monthly. 
A Participant may specify different payment options (i) for different
percentages or dollar amounts of a Participant’s vested Account balance; or
(ii) in the event of the death or Disability of the Participant.  Distributions will be in the form of a lump
sum (i) if the Participant did not choose a different distribution option or
(ii) in the event of death or Disability, if the Participant did not expressly
choose a different distribution option in the event of death or Disability.


 


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(c)                                  A
Participant shall make an election with respect to the form of distribution on
or before the date three months after an Employee becomes a Participant;
provided, however, that a Participant shall be entitled to change his or her
form-of-distribution election with respect to amounts thereafter contributed or
earned on his or her Account balance by making a new form-of-distribution
election applicable to such future balances. 
Effective July 10, 2000, at any time at least 12 months before the date
on which a Participant’s benefit under the Plan shall be distributed, a
Participant may make the following changes to the distribution option
previously elected with respect to such benefit:


 


(i)                                     a
Participant who previously elected a lump sum payment with respect to certain
amounts may elect an installment payment option described in Section 4.4(b) of
the Plan with respect to such amounts; and


 


(ii)                                  a
Participant who previously elected an installment payment option described in
Section 4.4(b) of the Plan with respect to certain amounts may select a
different installment payment option described in Section 4.4(b) which provides
for the payment of installments over a longer, but not a shorter, period of
time with respect to such amounts.


 


Any such change in
distribution options shall be made by the execution of a valid SERP Election
Change Form, timely filed with the Company, provided that a SERP Election
Change Form shall only be effective in respect of amounts that would not
otherwise have been distributed at least 12 months after the filing of such
Form.


 


(d)                                 A
form-of-distribution election and any change to a form-of-distribution election
shall be effective upon submission to the Committee or its designee and
compliance with all applicable requirements established by the Committee,
provided that the Committee retains the right, at its election, to make payments
in a lump sum if it elects, in its sole discretion, to do so notwithstanding
any form-of-distribution election or any change thereto requesting an
installment option. Notwithstanding any contrary provision in the Plan, the
Committee, in its sole discretion, retains the right, but shall have no
obligation, to distribute all or any portion of a Participant’s vested Account balance
in the form of any security or other investment chosen by the Participant as an
investment benchmark for measuring the value of his or her Account pursuant to
Section 4.3(a) of the Plan.  Further,
notwithstanding any contrary provision in the Plan, any distribution to a
Participant otherwise payable hereunder shall be deferred until no later than
January 2 in the year following termination of the Participant’s employment
with the Company (and its subsidiaries) to the extent that such distribution,
if not so deferred, would be disallowed as a tax deduction by the Company
pursuant to Section 162(m) of the Code (or any successor provision).


 


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4.5                                 Benefit
Restoration With Respect to Certain Bonus Payments.  In the event that a Participating Company
accelerates the payment of bonuses for any Plan Year by paying bonuses which
would otherwise be payable in the following Plan Year, and such payment causes
a Participant to be credited with a lower total contribution under the Basic
Plan and the Plan by virtue of the limitations provided in the Basic Plan and
the limitations on the amount of Compensation provided in Section 2.9 of the
Plan, then, notwithstanding any such limitations, the Committee may, in its
discretion, credit an additional supplemental pension contribution under the
Plan for the Plan Year in which the bonuses were paid on an accelerated basis
up to the amount which would otherwise be lost to the Participant by virtue of
the application of the limitations in the Basic Plan and in the Plan.  The aggregate amounts credited under the
Plan, and the contributions actually payable to or in respect of the
Participant under the Basic Plan, over a two Plan Year period consisting of the
Plan Year into which the bonus was accelerated and the following Plan Year,
shall not be increased by virtue of the application of this Section 4.5.


 


ARTICLE 5.                                Administration
and General Provisions.


 


5.1                                 Administration.


 


(a)                                  The
Plan shall be administered by the Committee in accordance with the
administrative provisions of the Basic Plan. 
The Committee shall have full power and authority to interpret, construe
and administer the Plan, and review claims for benefits under the Plan, and the
Committee’s interpretations and constructions of the Plan and actions
thereunder shall be binding and conclusive on all persons and for all purposes.


 


(b)                                 The
Committee shall establish and maintain Plan records and may arrange for the
engagement of such certified public accountants, actuarial consultants or legal
counsel, and make use of such agents and clerical or other personnel, as they
shall require or may deem advisable for purposes of the Plan.  The Committee may rely upon the written
opinion of such counsel and the consultants or accountants engaged by the
Committee and may delegate to any agent or to any sub-committee or member of
the Committee its authority to perform any act hereunder, including, without
limitation, those matters involving the exercise of discretion, provided that
such delegation shall be subject to revocation at any time by the Committee.


 


(c)                                  To
the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, no member of the Committee
shall be personally liable by reason of any contract or other instrument
executed by him or her in his or her capacity as a member of the Committee, nor
for any mistakes of judgment made in good faith, and the Company shall
indemnify and hold harmless, directly from its own assets (including the
proceeds of any insurance policy the premiums of which are paid from the
Company’s own assets), each member of the Committee and each officer, employee
or director of the Company to whom any duty or power relating to the
administration or interpretation of the Plan or to the engagement or control of
the assets of the Plan may be delegated or 


 


7





















 


allocated, against
any cost or expense (including counsel fees) or liability including any sum
paid in settlement of a claim with the approval of the Company arising out of
any act or omission to act in connection with the Plan.


 


5.2                                 Amendment
and Termination.  The Plan may be
amended, suspended or terminated, in whole or in part, by the Board, but no
such action shall retroactively impair or otherwise adversely affect the rights
of any person to receive benefits under the Plan which have accrued prior to
the date of such action, as determined by the Committee; provided, however,
that the amount of any future contribution payable to or in respect of a
Participant may be reduced by the amount of any increase in the amount of
pension actually payable to the Participant or Beneficiary under the Basic Plan
due to any increases in benefits payable under the Basic Plan (whether due to
changes in Code Sections 401(a)(17) and 415 limitations or otherwise)
subsequent to the Participant’s retirement. 
Anything in Section 4.4 to the contrary notwithstanding, in the event of
the termination of the Plan, the Committee may direct that all Account balances
be distributed in the form of a lump sum distribution.


 


5.3                                 Company’s
Right to Discharge Employees. 
Nothing contained herein will confer upon any Participant or other
employee the right to be retained in the employ of any Participating Company,
nor will it interfere with the right of any Participating Company to discharge
or otherwise administer the employment and termination of Participants and
other employees without regard to the existence of the Plan.


 


5.4                                 Discharge
for Cause.  Notwithstanding any other
provisions contained in the Plan, in the event of a Participant’s Discharge for
Cause, such Participant and his or her Beneficiary shall forfeit all rights to
any payments under the Plan.


 


5.5                                 Sale
of Company.  Nothing in the Plan
shall preclude the Company from consolidating with or merging into or with, or
transferring all or substantially all its assets to, another corporation which
assumes the Plan and all obligations of the Company hereunder.  Under such a consolidation, merger, or
transfer of assets and assumption, the term “Company” shall refer to such other
corporation and the Plan shall continue in full force and effect.


 


5.6                                 Source
of Payments.  Participants have the
status of general unsecured creditors of the Company and the Plan constitutes a
mere promise by the Company to make benefit payments in the future from its
general assets; provided, however, that such payments shall be reduced by the
amount of any payments made to the Participant or his or her Beneficiary from
any trust or special or separate fund established by the Company to assure such
payments, and if the Company shall make any investments to aid it in meeting
its obligations hereunder, the Participant and his or her Beneficiary shall
have no right, title or interest whatever in or to any such investments except
as may otherwise be expressly provided in a separate written instrument
relating to such investments.  Nothing
contained in the Plan, and no action taken pursuant to its provisions, shall
create or be construed to create a trust of any kind between the Company and
any Participant or Beneficiary.  By
action of its Board of Directors, any Participating Company may assume joint
and several liability with the Company with respect to any obligations under
the Plan for Participants employed by the Participating Company.


 


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5.7                                 Withholding.  The Company may withhold from any benefits
payable under the Plan all Federal, state, city or other taxes as shall be
required pursuant to any law or governmental regulation or ruling.


 


5.8                                 Expenses.  All expenses incurred in administering the
Plan will be paid by the Company and none will be paid by the Participant.


 


5.9                                 Assignment.  No interest of any Participant or Beneficiary
hereunder shall be subject in any manner to anticipation, alienation, sale,
transfer, assignment, pledge, encumbrance, attachment, or garnishment by
creditors of the Participant or the Participant’s Beneficiary.  The Plan shall be binding upon and inure to
the benefit of the Company and its successors and assigns and the Participant,
his or her Beneficiary and estate.  Notwithstanding
the foregoing, pursuant to rules comparable to those applicable to qualified
domestic relations orders, as determined by the Committee, the Committee may
direct a distribution prior to any distribution date otherwise described in the
Plan, to an alternate payee (as defined under the rules applicable to qualified
domestic relations orders).


 


5.10                           ERISA
Status of Plan.  The Plan is intended
to constitute an “unfunded plan for management or other highly compensated
individuals” as defined in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974,
as amended from time to time (“ERISA”), and is subject to certain provisions of
ERISA, including certain requirements relating to reporting, disclosure,
enforcement and claims.


 


5.11                           Applicable
Law.  The Plan shall be construed,
regulated and administered according to ERISA (to the extent applicable), the
Code and the laws of the State of New York.


 


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